This invention relates generally to coin operated or actuated devices, and relates more particularly to an actuator or switch to reduce or eliminate the cheating of coin operated devices.
Coin operated machines and devices are in widespread use, and include vending machines, amusement devices, and devices which provide services such as car washes. The user of these machines drops the appropriate number and combination of coins into the machine, with the machine responding by dispensing the product or service which the customer has selected. The very nature of these machines means that they are rarely watched or supervised, leading to the very serious problem of cheating the machines. One common method of cheating the machines is by tripping the credit or actuator switch on these machines by means other than the coins which the machine is designed to accept.
Electronic amusement games have been particularly subject to abuse by users attempting to obtain credits on the machine by means other than the insertion of coins. These machines are actuated generally by dropping a coin or coins into a slot on the front of the machine. The coin falls through a series of channels which are designed by shape and route to determine whether the object is actually the coin which the machine is designed to accept. If there is a discrepancy in the size, weight or composition of the device which is dropped into the slot, the object is eliminated from the system, and is not allowed to pass through the actuator switch. If a coin has been dropped into the slot, it is allowed to pass completely through the route and through an actuator switch. In most amusement machines commonly in use, the coin trips an electromechanical switch which causes a circuit to be grounded, giving the user a credit on the machine. The coin operated amusement device may then be played by the user.
The coin operated amusement machines which are presently and commonly in use comprise one electromechanical credit switch, which receives the coin after it has passed through the series of channels to eliminate flat, circular objects which are not coins ("slugs"). Persons who wish to cheat these machines have learned that by inserting a stiff wire or other foreign object into the slot on the front of the machine the switch may be tripped, causing the machine to grant a credit without a coin being inserted. These machines commonly incorporate a timing circuit which prevents the granting of a credit unless the switch is tripped and released within a preset elapsed time, however, a skilled cheater can use a wire to trip the switch within the allowed time. This common problem results in the owner and/or operator of the coin operated amusement device being cheated and deprived of receipts.
A particular method of cheating a machine is known as "stringing". A hole is drilled or punched in a coin and a thin string or line is attached to the coin through the hole. The coin is then lowered into the coin slot while holding the string until a credit is granted. The string is then pulled up slightly and dropped again, granting credits as desired by means of the "strung" coin.